Govt criticized for inadequate traffic arrangements after New Year's Eve's fireworks display

01-01-2024 18:10 HKT

Tourists had to wait long hours for the coaches to arrive and take them to their destination after the fireworks display Sunday night, leading to many criticizing the government for the arrangements that would damage Hong Kong's reputation.

Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong pointed out that similar situations had occurred as early as November 2023, when many concerts were held in Central, and believed that the authorities should have been able to foresee these traffic conditions.

He continued that after the fireworks display in Victoria Harbor, a large number of tourists were unable to return to the mainland in the early morning hours and had to wait in Sheung Shui all night due to the severe traffic jam, which was detrimental to Hong Kong's image.

Chui also added that in the future, it will be difficult to rely on buses to meet the demand of passengers during the Lunar New Year period and suggested that the Luohu Port should be open for 24 hours on those days.

He said the incident serves as a warning and he hopes the authorities will prepare the necessary facilities to receive tourists in the future.

Lawmaker Dominic Lee Tsz-king said that tourists have all returned to Shenzhen this morning, and the situation is all under control.

However, Lee said that the transportation authorities ignored the situation, and the mainland passengers had to wait in Sheung Shui all night, along with bus companies unwilling to send buses to take passengers, harming Hong Kong's image.

He said this situation was unacceptable and showed that "Shenzhen-Hong Kong integration" and "building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" were purely slogans and not taken seriously at all.

The Transport Department responded that the service operators had already increased the number of vehicles following the government recommendations to cope with the demand of cross-boundary visitors returning to the mainland overnight after the fireworks musical.

However, only Huanggang Control Point provided passenger clearance services after midnight and the outbound travelers exceeded expectations, resulting in a vehicle queue extending from Huanggang Control Point to San Tin Highway.

The Department added that the heavy traffic resulted in visitors waiting longer for cross-boundary coaches in the urban area despite the bus operators deploying additional vehicles.

TD said it will review and follow up on the incident with the relevant departments and service operators to provide better service arrangements for cross-boundary visitors.